Car repair basics from A to Z

With our recent focus on becoming debt free, we decided to get rid of our two cars (and their expensive payments!) and downsize to one car with a payment that was much more affordable for us. We still needed a second vehicle, so we “borrowed” my brother’s truck – a 1999 Ford Ranger. I say borrowed because it used to be my husband’s truck, then my brother bought it, and now it’s back to us. It’s basically a community vehicle between our families!

While we’re thrilled to have the truck to drive, we understand that an 18-year-old truck with over 200,000 miles is going to have different repair and maintenance needs than a newer car with fewer miles. Since my husband and I aren’t the most handy people (sorry babe!), we need a little help when it comes to knowing what to do and how to do it. That’s where cars.com comes in!

I’m sure you’ve heard of cars.com for car shopping, but did you know they have a section on their website devoted to service and repair?

Cars.com has repair resources ranging from things that seem simple, like replacing windshield wipers and checking the oil to things that are more complicated, like changing transmission fluid and replacing batteries. If you’re a true novice, there’s even information about how to open the hood of your car. That’s probably the first video you’ll want to watch!

The repair resources are categorized alphabetically so you don’t have to waste time searching through a lot of unnecessary topics to find what you need. There is a ton of information also -more categories than I could fit into this screenshot!

The videos also include descriptions, tell you what kind of tools you’ll need, how long the repair should take, and how difficult it is. This information makes my nerdy self so happy!

I know that neither of us will become full-time mechanics or repair experts because of this information, but it will be nice to be able to do some basic things on our own without having to ask our parents for help or take our cars to a repair shop! Plus, I like to brag anytime I do anything remotely outside of my ordinary day-to-day tasks, so this will give me bragging rights. Win-win!

Take a look at cars.com and see what types of repair resources are available for your car. Let me know in the comments if you’re a do-it-yourself type person or prefer to leave things to the professionals.